| The purpose of this study was to examine the career states and related issues experienced by part-time adult learners participating in evening courses at The Pennsylvania State University. The central purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the perspectives of students about their career states and its relevance to their level of critical thinking ability and related dispositional traits. A related question was the extent to which benefits are gained by participating in evening courses differ by career state. A further question is how should the findings of this study affect the planning of future course offering and career interventions provided by Continuing Education.; To accomplish these goals, the sample was selected, with the assistance of the Registrar's Office, utilizing the Data Warehouse and, student records contained in the Continuing Education Department. Students who were registered for spring semester and the summer session 1998 comprised the sample. The criteria for selection included degree seeking status, age, and evening class attendance. It was determined that 117 students fulfilled the requirements for participation. The response rate for students providing usable data (n = 73) was 62.3 percent. Each student in the total sample received a packet containing cover letter, consent form, and three instruments.; The analysis of data was based on the assumption there were subjects in five types of career states: career plateau, underemployment, unemployment, career indecision, and other. This study examined the responses to various levels of: coping, student expectations, stress, recognition of assumptions, interpretation of events, open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, critical self-confidence, and maturity levels. One-way analysis of variance was used to determine the differences between students in different career states. In addition, to further clarify the career issues by critical thinking abilities and dispositional traits, linear regression was used.; The results of this study do not fully support relationships between student's career states and variables studied: stress levels, coping responses, analyticity, open-mindedness, systematicity, self-confidence, and interpretation of events. However, the areas of significance achieved include differences between student's identified career state, their level of maturity, recognizing assumptions, and student expectations. |
